


Back Someday, Maybe

by Soak



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Byleth's BL ending is so dumb, Cats, F/M, Fluff, Introspection, Leaving Home, Let these goobers relax in peace, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Blue Lions Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), so hapi can collect stones and byleth can fish all day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:06:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24207166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soak/pseuds/Soak
Summary: Fódlan is under the Kingdom's banner. The rubble has been cleared from Garreg Mach, mostly, but the repairs are just beginning. Even Abyss needs time to heal, even the wolves that protected it. Hapi, the last to leave, visits once more before she goes, maybe for the final time. A piece of Abyss tries to come with her.--or--A cat tries to adopt Hapi.
Relationships: Hapi/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	Back Someday, Maybe

**Author's Note:**

> I completed a BL run w/ Hapi and honestly was kinda annoyed with it. Most of this is just trying to re-imagine what'd be a nicer ending for them. Bylad just wants to fish and cook tasty food, while Hapi wanders in the forest and collects cute pebbles.
> 
> !!Spoilers!!
> 
> Honestly, why do all that fighting and suffering just to get roped back into the church again--my boy hardly knows how to pray, no way he should be an archbishop. If anything, maybe he'd come back later to teach again, which I may have lightly hinted at here. The best part about CF runs is that you're not immediately forced into running the world.
> 
> (Also Hapi is tied for my fave Ashen Wolf, alongside Coco, Yuri, and Balthus. She deserves good things!)

Hapi twisted the ring on her finger, turning it in circles as the amethyst glinted from time to time in the torchlight. As pretty and wonderful as it was, in the present, it felt weird. Alien. She hadn't expected to be wearing something like this--she could lie and finish that thought with "just not so soon", but " _not ever_ " was what she'd known, late at night sometimes when her mind kept her awake. With her corrupted crest heavy on her her shoulders, things like this were off-limits. Anyone worth committing to wasn't worth burdening with her problems as well, and the latter used to always win out.

Idiot. Sometimes she wanted to walk up to Byleth and punch him in the face. Things could still go wrong. She knew with painful knowledge that they always could, no matter how diligent or prepared someone might be.

She breathed in deeply and--working through decades of locks and fail safes--let out a long sigh. That jolt of joy rose again in her chest, as it had been for past month or so, and worked her lips into a smile. 

How long had he worked on this ring, in secret, with what must've been a small army of enchanters? Monster-blocking enchantments were rare, and with this range, incredibly so. Yuri-bird heard many things, and yet somehow even this had slipped through his fine net; not that he would've told her outright, but he'd have made some off-hand comments, something that could be pieced together in retrospect. And yet, nothing.

Maybe he wasn't such an idiot.

Hapi shook herself and rose from her dormitory bed in Abyss. She grabbed the leather pack from the floor and slung it over a shoulder, spinning slowly to get a sense of the room. There was that gap between the masonry in the ceiling, the one that had always worried Coco, eternally convinced it let spiders come and go. Everything here had something wrong with it. The communal dressers always mismatched and uneven, the once-red-now-gray-ish Almyran rug, its stains a guestbook of all who had stayed and bled and drank, the scarred bedposts she'd trace her nails into when she couldn't sleep--she'd be lying if she said she wouldn't miss it. It'd be a while before she might see it again.

Another delightful sigh, this one short but equally cathartic.

She ran her fingertips along the uneven walls as she walked through the hallways, back to the surface. Few people were out in the morning, so for long stretches it was just her and the clacking her boots made. The coming and going of dim sconce-light had long stopped bothering her.

The quiet let her hear the flurry of soft, padded steps that closed in from behind. She shifted her weight and whirled around, time beginning to melt as it always did, the crackling of purplish energy welling in her hands. It was all reflexes and instinct now, unlike Coco, and if someone wanted to pull a sucker-punch on her, they'd be-

The cat stopped and bristled. It didn't flee or hiss, just raised its hackles and the fur along its spine. It held her gaze with amber eyes.

Hapi froze, her mind an inch away from letting her magic fry the poor thing. After a tense heartbeat or two, she let the miasma spell go with a deep breath. She knelt to the ground.

"Way to go, dummy." She held out a hand. "Is this your way of saying goodbye?"

The cat, its fur a short blue-ish gray, stared for a moment longer. Then it padded forward, examining her fingers curiously, whiskers twitching. Satisfied, it pushed its nose and face along them, walking further to wind around her ankles. 

She gave it a couple pets along its cheek. "Keep an eye on the place, okay? You're still probably smarter than most down here." Another few strokes down its back, then she stood back up. "See ya."

Hapi started off again. She gave the thing another cursory glance, satisfied as it sat down and watched her leave. They might be waiting for her above, but that couldn't be helped. It'd be a week's journey anyway, so if they had to camp in the woods instead of make it to an inn, all the better. 

The light, four-legged gait returned. It was a sprint at first, but settled into a brisk walk as it neared. Hapi looked down to find the cat again, this time keeping pace with her exit. She halted and it slowed, walking out in front of her. It stood there, staring back up, and yawned.

"You think I'm boring, is that it? Then why are you following me?" She crouched, elbows on her knees. After a moment of deliberation, she reached out and picked it up, bringing it close to her chest. It protested, but only just. "Look, buddy--" she cradled it in one arm and scratched with the other hand "--you're from Abyss. I've seen you around. You should know by now that people come and go all the time."

It pressed its face into her fingers, finally accepting its position. The tip of an ear was missing. A long scar ran along the bridge of its nose. A streak of its coat was bare along its shoulder. It blinked and narrowed its eyes, a low purr growing from its throat.

"Fine." Hapi stood up and continued on. "You'll get a ride to the ladder, but that's as far as we go, got it?"

Her fingertips idly worked behind its ear as she walked. It was bittersweet to leave, even if it wasn't indefinite, even if she was the last one still here. Coco and Yuri, on some trip to stake claims in old Nuvelle territory. Balthus, off to check in with his mother. There were promises they'd be back. She knew how easy it was to be locked up again somewhere new, especially if you didn't mind the cage.

Just her and Chatterbox. Some rainy forest where the Oghma Mountains met the coast, a year or two to repair and heal while this Monastery did the same. That was the story, anyway.

The war wasn't so far removed. Garreg Mach proper had too many memories lingering in it--days at Balthus' bedside, wondering if he'd pull through. War meetings, the dread and sin of discussing singular lives in numbers and battalions. The horrible morning before a march, always trying to remember happy faces, never sure if you'd be the last to see them.

Abyss was the only part of the cage she cared for, and now the door was open.

Hapi put down the cat, it protesting as it left the warmth of her arms. Poor thing. It sat there as she adjusted her things, double-checking she had everything. Satisfied, she turned around and put a hand and a foot up to the ladder.

Two paws pressed against her calf, little pinpricks working into her skin.

Hapi paused and hung her head. She faced the cat--who had returned to its seat and watched. "I told you already--" she wagged her finger "--this is how it works, cat. You gotta stay here, make sure the place doesn't go up in flames. They're good people, mostly--worth saving at least." 

It blinked at her, holding her gaze. Then it walked forward, winding around a leg once. Hapi groaned. It then reared back and placed its paws on her knee, stretching higher and higher, getting as close to her as it could.

"Hey, none of that. You can't just follow me around for a bit, like a weirdo, and expect me to be your new best friend."

It cocked its head, whiskers twitching as it sniffed at her.

"Yeah, that's right, I'm not some softie you can order around. Go get freckles or someone." She scowled and leaned in closer, her climbed leg refusing to move. "I'm tough and scary as heck."

If anything, that prompted its curiosity more, and it rubbed its cheek along her thigh. 

She balled up her fits, her frown deepening. "I'm not a softie! Didn't you hear! You want nothing to do with me, so go home."

It gave out a soft mew, big amber eyes luring in her soul.

Hapi sighed.

\--

Hapi found them at the gates of Garreg Mach, deep in discussion. Byleth had gotten their horses ready, the leads still in his hands. Their saddlebags were stuffed to the brim, even after making full use of the packhorse they'd take along.

"-are you sure there's no way I can convince you otherwise? Lady Rhea is insistent she cannot return to the church."

"You'll make a great archbishop, Seteth." Byleth clapped a hand on his shoulder, then turned to the other. "Goodbye, Dimitri. You know where we're going. We'll be sure to visit from time to time."

The king nodded, his hair finally groomed and tied back nicely. "So long... Professor." He reached out and pulled him into an embrace. Some short words were shared she couldn't make out.

Hapi came up beside Byleth as they broke apart. She nodded to them both. "Good luck running the world, I guess."

Seteth huffed. Dimitri grinned. "I'll miss you as well, Hapi." The king gave her a hug as well. She squashed down any queasiness and accepted it for the warm wishes it was. "Keep him safe."

"Heh. Yeah, I'll try. See ya around, Seteth." She looked over. "All ready to hit the road?"

Byleth nodded, the corner of his lips turned into a smile. He handed her the reins to her horse. The two of them mounted onto their saddles, waved goodbye on their way under the portcullis, and like that, they were gone.

They hardly made it a step further before Hapi shifted in her seat, slinging her bag around. Opening the flap, she pointed it towards Byleth, guiding her horse closer to him. She felt a goofy smile threatening.

"Picked up one more thing when I was downstairs--I hope you don't mind. I'm gonna keep her anyway, but still... it's nicer if you're okay with it."

Byleth peered over, ignoring the hustle and bustle of the monastery town outside the gates. His expression brightened, beaming. He took a hand off the reins and reached over, rubbing a finger along the cheek of the cat that rested in her pack. Cooing noises came from his mouth that even she hadn't heard before.

"What's her name?" 

Okay, that dumb smile had to be plastered all over her face. Enthusiasm bubbled over the edges. "Abbie. She's so sweet and cool as hell. She- well, she found me more than I found her, you know? I couldn't really say no." She stared down at the cat, curled up among a pile of clothes. "Turns out I'm kinda a sucker for this stuff."

Byleth leaned over, perhaps a little dangerously out of his saddle, and placed a kiss on Hapi's forehead. "You think she'll like me too?"

That damnable grin just wouldn't come off. "You? Wasn't feeding all the stray cats, like, your job?" She chuckled at her own joke, and the next one she had in mind. "If you're really worried, I think cutting your hair would help. Less scary."

Byleth pulled back into his saddle, his eyes suspicious. He ran a hand through the back of his hair that almost reached his shoulders. "Is that for the cat, or you?"

"Hmm?" Hapi shrugged, still smiling as she held the reins again, the bag wedged between her arms.

Somewhere, tucked in a corner hallway of Abyss, lived a pile of some clothes she didn't really care for. It was a fair trade; mementos offered in both directions.


End file.
